Plants in south Florida and Cuba often have longer and narrower leaf blades than is typical, and G. O. K. Malme (1925) named Cuban material Xyris intermedia on the basis of longer, narrower leaf blades and entire sepal keels. In Florida, however, all of these characters intergrade. The red sepal tips, almost a homology with the bract dorsal area, are a constant (yet neglected) character. This species is often weedy.